Published: October 22, 2009 12:00 am      

Seventh-graders learn by getting out of the classroom

By MICHELLE MILLER
Staff Writer

Cooperstown seventh-graders have been working hard in the classroom accumulating background knowledge about how food choices have an impact on people’s health and the health of the planet.

Last week, the students were able to see their studies come to life. They put on their work clothes, headed out into the frigid cold, and took an agriculture expedition to the Brunner organic dairy farm in Hartwick.

This marks the fourth year the Cooperstown Middle School has participated in the Expeditionary Learning Schools Outward Bound Program (ELS). ELS is an organization that provides professional development and technical assistance to schools across the nation. The program focuses on improving student engagement, achievement and character by offering frameworks for curricular design and classroom instruction, as well as methods for building stronger, more positive school communities.

Using expeditionary learning techniques, teachers involve students in learning through rigorous academic service to the community, which is embedded in learning expeditions. Teachers develop learning expeditions using community experts and outside resourced that result in major projects and products.

The two-day field trip, designed by life science teacher Amy Parr, was an exploration of life science and art using agriculture as a lens. Students got the opportunity to look at food production, how ecosystems work, learned about water quality, and plotted acres with stakes to see how much land it would take to support their lifestyles.

``I wanted them to have an introduction to agriculture and ecology and reinforce the knowledge of cycles in nature,’’ said Parr, who is the daughter of the owners of the farm, Cliff and Patti Brunner. ``I wanted the students to look at the farm as a system.’’

While trying to net critters out of a creek, Jordian Siver said the goal at hand was to catch, identify and determine where the critter should be placed on the food web. She said she had caught some fish and crayfish.

Other students said they saw or caught stone flies, baby dragon flies and salamanders.

Siver said she had visited her uncle’s farm before, but did not know that there were so many different types of cows. For example, she pointed to a light brown one and identified it as a Jersey.

Rebecca Odell said something she found interesting was the fact that cows are not actually called cows until they have had two calves. Olivia Phillips said she learned that feeding cows molasses helps their blood sugar and produces better quality calves.

Max Ofer said the students were applying what they have been learning in math class to real-life situations.

For example, he said he not only learned an acre is equivalent to 44,560 square feet, but got to stake out a piece of land to see how big it actually is.

Ofer said he also learned it is a good idea to rotate cows from pasture to pasture and that birds go into the manure to find things to eat and digest.